Being an air traffic controller...
- Thread starter A150K
- Start date
Crockrocket94
Well-Known Member
Well, from what ive heard it can be hair pulling 
fly22
Well-Known Member
I think they used this pic for the original Beavis and Butthead series.
EIR
It's 5 o'clock somewhere
boondr
Penalty Vectorer
fixed
A150K
Well-Known Member
An example from yesterday morning:
Cirrus: Hello ground, this is cirrus 12345 and we are sitting here at the FBO with our engine fired up and we are ready to taxi to your active runway with the Atis. I would tell you the letter, but I forgot it.
Ground: Cirrus calling stand by, emergency in progress.
Cirrus: Roger sir, standing by.
Some bonanza: Does the same go for Bonanza 12345?
It's sad when people that I know are student pilots that are flying around in flight school aircraft are making textbook radio calls, while the transient pilots are messing up comms, and just overall making asshats of themselves. I do not think proper radio procedures are emphasized enough in primary training and that is why such a large percentage of GA pilots have radio issues.
A150K
Well-Known Member
What was it that you fixed? The part you quoted matches 100% with the original.
Autothrust Blue
“If you jump on my shift, that’s just rude, man.”
I don't know what we have to do to make general aviation pilots communicate better, but I agree with all of the above. (I can think of a few flight instructors I've had who are themselves heinous offenders, actually.)
EIR
It's 5 o'clock somewhere
About 95% of the weekend warriors are older gentlemen that are set in their ways. As long as they get their point across to ATC and do not gum up the field, I see nothing wrong with it.
KLB
Well-Known Member
Well he shortened the sentence a bit. haha
Autothrust Blue
“If you jump on my shift, that’s just rude, man.”
At a non-busy place this is okay.
At, for instance, CMA during rush hour (Saturdays, 9-3 when the restaurant is open and the weather is better than MVFR), this is distinctly not.
boondr
Penalty Vectorer
I took out the extraneous BS and went straight to the facts.
RDoug
Well-Known Member
The most fun I ever had as a controller was at R.A.F. Lakenheath—my first assignment after ATC Technical Training out of Keesler A.F.B. We'd get a pattern just chock full of F-4D and later, after the 48th TFW transitioned in '76, F-111E. Back then we'd jam those aircraft into the pattern so tight that we'd occasionally have to break them out to one of two VFR reporting points north of the field (Points Alpha and Bravo) and then reenter them. At times I'd have a dozen or more fighters in the pattern simultaneously. What a kick.
After that I was stationed at Davis-Monthan A.F.B., and it was a complete and utter zoo. At that time we were the busiest single-runway operation in the country, and there was no room for any kind of finesse whatsoever. The mix of traffic (A-7, A-10, F-106, C-130, UH-1, CH-53, Customs Citation, O-2, and various Boneyard aircraft) where simply too unforgiving. The slightest mistake forced us to break aircraft out of the pattern for resequencing by Tucson TRACON. That was not so much fun.
Closest I've ever seen to a midair occurred there. Flight of two Navy (why is it always the Navy?) F-8s on initial were instructed, "Break number four following a flight of two A-10s crosswind departure end, advise traffic in sight prior to break." Other aircraft in the pattern were a flight of two A-10s on base, and another flight of two on downwind. The F-8s reported the A-10s crosswind in sight and were instructed to, "Break to follow." What they had in sight were the two A-10s on base (how the heck do you get crosswind confused with base, fer cryin' out loud? not only are thy miles apart, the aircraft on those legs are traveling in opposite directions relative to the friggin' runway!). The F-8s broke midfield right into the flight of two A-10s on downwind. The A-10 lead saw what was happening and yelled out to his wingman, "ClimbClimbClimb." The two F-8s passed almost perfectly stacked between the two A-10s. From high to low it was: A-10, F-8, A-10, F-8, with no daylight any of us in the tower could see between any of the aircraft.
And then there's the occasional fatal crash involving an aircraft that you're controlling.
So, yeah, it can be a real blast, but it can also be a gigantic ulcer that leaves you shaking at the end of a busy shift. After 34+ years in the field, I'm rather glad I'm out of it.
After that I was stationed at Davis-Monthan A.F.B., and it was a complete and utter zoo. At that time we were the busiest single-runway operation in the country, and there was no room for any kind of finesse whatsoever. The mix of traffic (A-7, A-10, F-106, C-130, UH-1, CH-53, Customs Citation, O-2, and various Boneyard aircraft) where simply too unforgiving. The slightest mistake forced us to break aircraft out of the pattern for resequencing by Tucson TRACON. That was not so much fun.
Closest I've ever seen to a midair occurred there. Flight of two Navy (why is it always the Navy?) F-8s on initial were instructed, "Break number four following a flight of two A-10s crosswind departure end, advise traffic in sight prior to break." Other aircraft in the pattern were a flight of two A-10s on base, and another flight of two on downwind. The F-8s reported the A-10s crosswind in sight and were instructed to, "Break to follow." What they had in sight were the two A-10s on base (how the heck do you get crosswind confused with base, fer cryin' out loud? not only are thy miles apart, the aircraft on those legs are traveling in opposite directions relative to the friggin' runway!). The F-8s broke midfield right into the flight of two A-10s on downwind. The A-10 lead saw what was happening and yelled out to his wingman, "ClimbClimbClimb." The two F-8s passed almost perfectly stacked between the two A-10s. From high to low it was: A-10, F-8, A-10, F-8, with no daylight any of us in the tower could see between any of the aircraft.
And then there's the occasional fatal crash involving an aircraft that you're controlling.
So, yeah, it can be a real blast, but it can also be a gigantic ulcer that leaves you shaking at the end of a busy shift. After 34+ years in the field, I'm rather glad I'm out of it.
Vector4Food
This job would be easier without all the airplanes
The stress of this job is something we can't explain to those who have never done it... I dont think about smashing planes together, but it's still stressful, in an underlying cumulative sort of way.
Most of us have our ways of handling it, but it's hard to explain.
Most of us have our ways of handling it, but it's hard to explain.
Chief Captain
Well-Known Member
:banghead:
A150K
Well-Known Member
Why the headbang?
A150K
Well-Known Member
Agreed. I'm a huge supporter of GA myself, and one of the things that gives it a bad name is the attitude of some GA pilots...Including radio comms (listening to the way some people go about requesting VFR flight following makes me want to go out and beat a child, and I am somebody who talks to center 90% of the time when I'm on a VFR cross country.)